"My Dream Is Now In Front Of Me": Mukesh Kumar On Test Selection

For someone who has come through the grind and lost many battles, including when his father died of a brain haemorrhage, in his journey to become a cricketer, Mukesh Kumar knows well what it takes to be selected for the Indian Test team. "Kehte hai na agar aap Test nahin khele toh kya khele... (Like they say, what have you done if you didn't play Tests)," the fiesty Bengal pacer told PTI after being selected in the Test and ODI squads for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. "My dream is now in front of me. I always wanted to be here -- to play Tests for India. And, I've finally arrived." What now flashes through his mind is a myriad of memories from his village Kankar Kund in the remote Gopalganj district of Bihar to sleeping in the dormitory at Eden Gardens in Kolkata where he had first come in 2012 to help his father in his taxi business.

His father Late Kashinath Singh, who died in 2019, was against cricket and wanted Mukesh to join Central Reserve Police Force.

An emaciated Mukesh failed in CRPF exams twice and his cricketing dream was also heading nowhere after representing the Bihar U-19 side.

He resorted to playing "khep" cricket in Bengal -- where one represents unaffiliated clubs in tennis ball cricket to earn Rs 500 to Rs 5000 per match.

Besides suffering from malnutrition, Mukesh also had an issue -- bone edema -- where one has excessive fluid in his knees, so he would miss games, and end up either in hospitals or rehab centres.

The 'Summer of 2014' changed it all for Mukesh when he came under the radar of former Bengal speedster Ranadeb Bose.

It was during Cricket Association of Bengal's ambitious programme 'Vision 2020' -- that was introduced by then CAB secretary Sourav Ganguly to find and groom talents